Carob Bars
by Macbeth99
Summary: A few years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry bumps into Luna in the Muggle health food store she works in.


"Luna?"

Harry looked again to be sure, but there was no mistaking the long blond hair and the dreamy expression on the young woman in the aisles of the health food store - it had to be Luna.

"Oh, hello, there, Harry!"

She didn't seem surprised to see Harry, but then, she rarely looked surprised. He grinned and hugged her, and she gave him a serious look and said, "Have you come for the carob bars, Harry?"

"The carob - no, actually, I was just going to buy some vitamins - Ginny's on this new vitamins thing, see, she keeps wanting James to take them. I'm not really sure why."

"Well, they are rather healthy," said Luna, bending down to pick up a bag of gluten-free organic flour that had fallen off one of the shelves. "You ought to try the carob bars, too. They're quite good."

Harry nodded and said, "What are you doing here, then, Luna? Funny place to meet."

She smiled mildly and said, "I work here."

"You. . . you work here?"

"Well, not exactly work," she said. "Here, come, I'll show you where the vitamins are, you're going in the wrong direction."

She headed forward, turning her head back once to be sure he was following, and led Harry along the aisles of the store to the vitamin section, where she waited patiently for Harry to make his selection. He picked up a box and examined it, unsure of what he was looking for. "Er. . . have you got. . . have you got any baby vitamins?"

"Of course." She handed him a box, and Harry took it, figuring he could trust her.

"So how have you been, Luna?" he said, putting the box into his red plastic shopping basket. "I haven't spoken to you in months."

She nodded pleasantly. "It's a shame."

"It is! You ought to come visit at some point. So what's going on with you?"

Luna considered the question for a moment before a young man walked up behind her. He was a blond, bearded fellow, wearing a flannel shirt, skinny jeans, and black hipster glasses. Harry, who did not frequent health food stores, figured he was the sort of person who did. Luna smiled when he approached. "Oh, hello, Nick."

"Hey." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and Harry couldn't help raising his eyebrows. Nick tilted his head to the side and looked at Harry. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Er. . . no, Luna's already helped me. I'm. . . I'm actually a friend of hers."

Nick stood there for a moment, and Harry extended his hand. Nick shook it and gave Luna a puzzled look. She said, "Nick, this is Harry, my good friend from school. Harry, this is Nick, my fiancé."

"Your. . . Luna, you didn't tell us!"

A brief look of confusion crossed her face for a moment as though she hadn't considered telling her friends she was engaged. "Oh. Well, we were going to send you and Ginny a wedding invitation once we had a date set."

"Blimey, Luna, we really do need to catch up. Do you. . . do you both work here?"

Luna shook her head. "It's Nick's store. I'm helping him out while I work on my art. It's hard to find a job as an artist."

"An artist?" Harry grinned, remembering the paintings he'd seen in Luna's room a few years earlier. "That's brilliant, Luna."

"It is," she said thoughtfully. "It would be nice if I had a real job, though."

"You'll find a job," Nick said encouragingly, taking her hand. She smiled up at him, and Harry couldn't help noticing how very happy she looked. He was glad. Luna deserved to be happy.

"You should really try the carob bars, mate," said Nick. "I used to make them myself, but now Luna's started making them, and she's really good." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "She cheats a bit with magic."

Harry looked worriedly at Luna, but she was smiling brightly, and he figured if they were engaged, Nick probably knew about the wizarding world. She tucked some hair behind her ears, revealing one of her radish earrings. Harry couldn't help smiling. "How's your dad doing, Luna?"

"My dad? Oh, he's wonderful. I was just visiting him yesterday, actually. He and I are making a lot of progress researching the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. We just had a breakthrough in locating one of them."

He waited for her to elaborate, but she stopped then and stared off into the fluorescent lighting dreamily, and he felt vaguely relieved. Nick beamed behind her, and Harry wondered if he'd ever realize that Luna's ideas were not shared by the rest of the magical community. He supposed it didn't really matter either way.

Luna and Nick went with Harry to the register so he could check out, and he paid for his vitamins in Muggle money.

"Well," he said, "it was really nice catching up with you, Luna. Come around for dinner next week? Ginny will be so happy. And James is getting so big!"

Luna smiled. "All right. I'd like to see Ginny and James."

They made up a time and agreed that Luna would come over. "And bring Nick," Harry added, figuring Ginny would like to meet the man their good friend was planning on spending the rest of her life with.

"I'll bring Nick," Luna said happily. She made Harry take some carob bars with him when he left.


End file.
